Wearer comfort is one objective in the design and manufacture of hosiery. One aspect of comfort is related to how the hosiery and toe seam is formed and the intrusiveness (or lack thereof) of the toe seam to a wearer's foot.
Typically, hosiery is formed on circular knitting machines to yield a tubular fabric that requires closure of the toe. Historically, “hand-linking” was used to close the toe and form this seam. This process includes connecting the loops around the periphery of the fabric tube by hand, one at a time, until the toe was closed. This time-intensive process yielded comfortable, relatively non-intrusive seams. The hosiery market, however, encouraged automation in toe seam formation to improve productivity. Automation, however, has not generally yielded as comfortable toe seams as hand-linking.
Modifying the toe seam to improve comfort has been attempted. Using additional seaming threads results in a bulky uncomfortable seam. Placing the seam on the inside or outside of the hosiery has a limited effect on comfort. Manipulation of the knit structure near the seam has not yet achieved the desirable productivity levels while providing the comfort of “hand-linked” toe seams.
Thus, there is a need to provide comfortable, non-intrusive toe seams in an article of hosiery.